Saturday, January 21, 2017

Today's 911 call, or, how my alarm bells saved some woman's life


I woke up, put a pot of coffee on and sat down to read about how the world is falling apart aka the news. Then I heard some weird noises from what sounded like above me or somewhere in the common entry hall in my apartment building. Weird, my neighbors are probably having really loud angry sex again or something. I can't see anything through my (shitty) peep hole, so I go back to the coffee. 5 minutes later and nothing else. Then it starts again, and I can tell this time its not sex. I listen close to the door, and its some woman yelling help. Huh, I can't see anything, I'm half naked, but better start with the 911 call anyway. Call them up, give them the location and what I heard, then she walks in the way of my peep hole and I get a look. She looks like shes wearing a sleeping bag as a parka. That's super weird, even by the low standards of my apartment complex. I don't know what's going on so they dispatch 2 cops and EMS out just in case.At this point, I figure I should put pants on and my IWB, just in case. I'm still watching through the peep hole and I have zero idea whats going on. I don't know if shes the victim in a domestic, trying to get people out to attack them or what ever else it could be. (When I first moved to this complex the cops responded to the building next to mine like twice a month for domestic calls, so not everyone here is a high quality person) I figure its probably best to just stay securely locked in my place and wait for the professionals. Outside my door I have a duty to retreat, and that'd be hard to explain why I left the safety of my locked door for whatever could be out there.A couple minutes later I hear talking with some random woman who was walking her dog. It sounded to me like the woman in the sleeping bag was looking for a lost dog, probably the one that poops on the sidewalk. Great, 911 call to send 2 cops and an ambulance, and its a lost dog?Cops roll up and investigate, then the ambulance comes flying in. Turns out what happened was the woman had a stroke. Couldn't see, or couldn't see well, and it explains why the calls for help were hard to make out (speech), she was dressed in a sleeping bag or whatever, and stumbling through the hall pounding on doors and walls (because she couldn't see her phone to work it). Not really sure what the deal with the missing dog is though, but why that was the topic of conversation? I'll bet 2 old ladies absolutely loved their dogs and those animals were the world to them. Or maybe its completely unrelated, no idea. I will say though, while FAST (face, arms, speech, time) might be an early reaction if someone starts acting funny at a family gathering, it didn't even cross my mind when looking through the peep hole.Moral of the story kids, call 911 early, call 911 asap. Someone's strange behavior might be a medical episode and completely harmless (though it may not appear so at first) but in the case of a stroke or a heart attack seconds count. If I had waited until I had a complete picture to call, or had investigated what the fuck was going on or any of that the outcome for her could be completely different. Better to have cops come out for a escaped dog than not make it out for someone's stroke. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2iX3twI

No comments:

Post a Comment